Jon Stewart’s Band Church And State™ Make Stone Pony Debut

Jon Stewart’s punk roots date back to the ’80s, when he was a bartender at the legendary Trenton, New Jersey rock club City Gardens. His entertainment career took a turn towards other endeavors, but after he retired from The Daily Show, he decided to take up drumming as a hobby in his spare time. Lately Stewart has been flexing those newfound chops with Church And State™, a new band that includes Rick Barry, Justin Bornemann, and Andy Bova, the guy who gave Stewart drum lessons. Church And State™ (whose Instagram profile confirms they are a “music band” that makes “music”) have played a handful of gigs so far, but their highest-profile went down at the also-legendary Stone Pony on Friday night. Along with local alt-rockers Yawn Mower (a band we’ve covered a bunch this year) Church And State™ opened Status Green’s special 20th anniversary show. (It was also Stewart’s birthday, which happens to be the same day as mine, just in case you care). Reflecting on his drumming during an audience Q&A around one of his recent Daily Show appearances, Stewart said it was “fun as shit.” See that as well as some audience clips below.